EXPANDING SOUTHERN HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRIES TO UNDERSERVED REGIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN U.S.

The southeastern U.S. contributed more than 23% of the total $1B of blueberry production in the U.S. in 2021 (USDA NASS). The southeast has the privilege of producing the earliest blueberries in the U.S. and therefore enjoys higher market values. However, most of the southeastern blueberries are produced in Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina, whereas small- to mid-sized growers in other states such as Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee only maintain marginal blueberry production despite a similar environment with major producing areas. The long-term goal of this project is to sustain blueberry production in underserved regions of the southeastern U.S. by developing climate-resilient cultivars suitable for small- to mid-sized growers. Specifically, this proposal aims to:Objective I. develop climate-resilient southern highbush blueberry cultivars for small- and mid-sized growers in Alabama and nearby regions through collaborative cultivar evaluation,Objective II. evaluate genotype-by-environment interactions of key traits to better allocate future cultivars to the appropriate environments, andObjective III. enable accurate and high-throughput yield phenotyping through image-based analysis and machine learning.The southeastern U.S. contributed more than 23% of the total $1B of blueberry production in the U.S. in 2021 (USDA NASS). The southeast has the privilege of producing the earliest blueberries in the U.S. and therefore enjoys higher market values. However, most of the southeastern blueberries are produced in Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina, whereas small- to mid-sized growers in other states such as Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee only maintain marginal blueberry production despite a similar environment with major producing areas. The long-term goal of this project is to sustain blueberry production in underserved regions of the southeastern U.S. by developing climate-resilient cultivars suitable for small- to mid-sized growers. Specifically, this proposal aims to:Objective I. develop climate-resilient southern highbush blueberry cultivars for small- and mid-sized growers in Alabama and nearby regions through collaborative cultivar evaluation,Objective II. evaluate genotype-by-environment interactions of key traits to better allocate future cultivars to the appropriate environments, andObjective III. enable accurate and high-throughput yield phenotyping through image-based analysis and machine learning.